Fire Crews Douse Burning Plane In Hanger At Petaluma Airport

PETALUMA (CBS SF) — Fire crews were able to put out a fire in a hangar at the Petaluma Municipal Airport Sunday night, but not before one plane was destroyed.

Fire units responded to the fire at about 6:49 p.m. Arriving units were directed to Hanger 8, a large building which contained about a dozen individual hangers.

Smoke could be seen coming from gaps in the hangar doors of several units. Crews forced open multiple hangar doors as they searched for the fire until they found a dual-engine airplane that was fully involved.

Crews deployed hose lines and were able to quickly get the fuselage fire under control, but up to 70 gallons of aviation fuel had leaked onto the hanger floor and ignited, leading firefighters to use fire foam to blanket the burning fuel to smother the fire.

Firefighters also had to keep the fuel, water and foam from running off into drains that would leave water contaminated.

After about 45 minutes, the fire was contained. In addition to the plane that was destroyed and the fire and smoke damage to the hangar unit where it was contained, some surrounding hangers which also contained aircraft had moderate smoke damage.

A private hazardous material clean-up company was hired to to clean up all unburned aviation fuel that remained in the hangers and on the airport property.

There were no injuries in the incident. Fire officials said the fire is not suspicious and the cause is under investigation.